by the campfire
by bookworm3
Summary: For Mari. Based on the campfire scene from Girl Meets Texas Part 2. After Chloe exposes Marinette's feelings for Adrien, Marinette gathers the courage to confess her love to Adrien on her own terms as they sit together by the campfire. The outcome is surprising to both. Adrienette.


**This basically covers Day 2: School Field Trip and Day 20: Love Confession of Adrienette April, and to a lesser extent, Day 11: Making the Other Blush and Day 22: Protective. Cause I love the awkwardly endearing children that much. Dedicated to Mari for being VERY ENTHUSIASTIC about this au. I love you girl 3**

* * *

"You are _never_ going to believe it! Marinette has a crush on Adrien!"

Marinette let out a tiny shriek as she ran to catch up to Chloe but it was too late. The words seemed to echo out among the class that sat in the living room of the cabin.

Alya fell into step next to Marinette and grasped her hand, gently squeezing it in support. She snarled at Chloe, "Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!"

Chloe scoffed, "As if! It's about time Adrien knew the true intentions of his little friend, _Marinette Dupain-Cheng_ , here."

Adrien looked confused from where he sat next to Nino. Whatever it was Chloe was doing it couldn't be good. Not when Alya looked ready to snap her head off and Marinette seemed to be frozen still. He had to stop this.

Adrien stood, walked around the couch and over to the girls. "Chloe, enough."

"No, _Adrikins_. You need to know the truth about how Marinette _really_ feels about you."

Marinette snapped out of her shock, her dignity being threatened causing her to jump on the defensive. Her brow furrowed and she snarled at Chloe, "Whatever I feel is my business, _Chloe_. You have no right to say anything!"

Chloe let out a mocking laugh, "As Adrien's oldest friend and future girlfriend, of course I do. Adrien, haven't you ever wondered _why_ Marinette has been so embarrassingly awkward that she can't even speak a complete sentence around you? Why she gave you that dingy little bracelet she pretends has good luck? It's because she's had a big, fat, gross crush on you since the first day she met you!"

Marinette let out a mortified squeak, placing her hands over her mouth. She could vaguely hear Sabrina laugh right next to her ear as she tried to grasp for words.

Sadly, she just stood there. Stammering like a nervous wreck.

Chloe laughed, "You see! Her reaction proves it! All she's ever wanted was to get closer to you so that she could steal your love away from me. But I would never let that happen." Chloe cooed, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Chloe gasped as Adrien immediately pushed her away. "Chloe, this is the cruelest thing you've ever done."

"I have never been cruel in my entire life!"

"Chloe, lying about Marinette having a crush on me is a really low thing to do!" Adrien could feel his frustration grow. He was never one to yell at anyone but he could feel his chest flare up protectively. Marinette would normally hold her own against Chloe, no doubt, but she didn't have to fight alone. Not when he was involved in this fight too.

"Marinette!" Adrien swirled his head around and saw Alya chase Marinette out the door. Chloe tugged his hand, trying to stop him from going after them.

Adrien sighed, _'I'm going to have to catch up in a couple of minutes.'_

* * *

Marinette felt tears well up in her eyes as she walked out the door. Chloe had bullied her for years, but after she became Ladybug she swore she would never let her demean her again.

Yet here she was, outside her cabin at the Paris Indigo Campsite, standing next to the campfire her whole class had been happily sitting around barely ten minutes before.

She crossed her arms as if to shield herself from the way Chloe had cruelly revealed her feelings to the entire class. During a trip where she couldn't escape them, their questions or stares. Where she couldn't escape _Adrien._

She sniffed, pressing her chin down and trying to keep herself from spilling any tears. "Oh, Tikki. I'm so embarrassed. I wish the ground would swallow me up right now."

The tiny kwami zoomed out from her hiding place in Marinette's purse. Tikki pressed her arms against Marinette's cheek, "Oh, Marinette! It's painful now but you'll get through this."

Marinette leaned into her kwami's tiny embrace, thankful that Tikki cared so much about her human dilemmas. Problems that probably seemed trivial to a god like her, who had already lived for thousands of years, but was always patient with her about. Tikki didn't care to move away from the hot tears flowing down Marinette's cheeks that were currently showering her tiny head.

Marinette flinched as Tikki zipped back into her purse, feeling alone once more. Then she felt a familiar arm wrap around her shoulder. Marinette immediately melted into Alya's embrace, tears falling into her best friend's shoulder now.

"Oh, _ma cheri_. I'm so sorry. That's not how you wanted him to find out." Marinette grasped Alya tighter, holding onto the comfort her best friend emitted after her heart had been carelessly exposed without her consent.

"Marinette! Alya! Are you alright?" Marinette quickly straightened up at the sound of Adrien's voice. She finished wiping the remaining tear marks on her cheeks as Adrien came towards them. He looked worried.

"Marinette, I'm so sorry. Chloe was completely out of line with what she said." Adrien apologized. His hands itched at his sides, wanting to offer a comforting gesture to Marinette. However, Alya was already holding onto her.

Marinette shook her head, "I-It's okay, Adrien. It's not your fault how Chloe is."

"I know. Still, we've been friends for a long time. I wish I could stop her from going as far as she goes."

"I don't think Chloe will ever listen to anyone but herself. _Brat_. At least you told her off, Adrien. Thanks for standing up for my girl." Alya thanked him, giving Marinette a squeeze on her shoulder.

"Of course. You can always count on me."

Adrien shot them a kind smile that made Marinette warm from her head to her toes.

She liked this boy so much.

Why was she such a coward when it came to her feelings for him?

On Valentines Day, she had told Tikki that if she wanted to win Adrien over he had to know her true feelings for him. Yet here she was, crying because he had almost found out from her nasty rival. Was she, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, about to let Chloe Bourgeois ruin a life changing confession to _her_ Adrien Agreste? **No**.

Marinette shot Alya a look, gesturing at her to leave her alone with Adrien. Alya blinked, surprised at Marinette's nerve after that embarrassing ordeal. Nevertheless, she shot her best friend a supportive wink. "Well, I'm gonna head inside. See you guys."

Things suddenly grew quiet, the atmosphere becoming tense between just Adrien and Marinette. Adrien, not knowing what else to say to comfort the nervous girl in front of him, decided to try and diffuse the awkwardness.

Adrien gestured to the door, "We should probably head inside too. The fire will probably die out by itself soon."

Marinette held out a hand to stop him, "Wait! Would you maybe want to sit out here with me? Just until the fire dies down! I don't want to go inside just yet." Marinette stuttered out, twisting the strap on her bag nervously.

Adrien stopped in his tracks. He noticed her stiffness and was perplexed. ' _Why would she want to sit with me if she looks so uncomfortable?'_ "You want _me_ to sit with you?"

Marinette nodded, her back straightening into a more assured stance. "Yes, I do. If you want to, that is."

"Yeah, of course." If sitting by her would bring his friend ease, could Adrien really deny her?

They walked over to the campfire and sat down on one of the logs beside each other. Marinette picked up a stick to tend the fire with, biting her lip nervously. Adrien discreetly glanced from the fire and back to Marinette's face.

Her features seemed to shine brighter as the light from the campfire reflected on her. He could see shades of blue highlighted in her black hair and her eyes looked like shiny blue stars in the night. He shook his head and stared back into the campfire just as Marinette's eyes glanced over to him.

Adrien always looked beautiful, but something about the firelight made him look almost angelic. The flames showered a warmth onto him that both comforted her and made it harder for her to breathe.

Her stick suddenly broke in half and she tumbled forward. She quickly moved away, cheeks flushing with embarrassment at her chin hitting his shoulder as she leaned back.

Adrien placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her, "Marinette! Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes I'm fine. I'm so sorry. I didn't realize I was leaning on that stick so hard." Marinette covered her hands over her face in embarrassment.

Adrien gave a reassuring smile, "It's okay, no harm done."

Sadly, this didn't bring her the ease Adrien had hoped. Marinette stood up, beginning to pace, "I'm such a mess. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to stay with me."

Adrien's eyes became downcast, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

Marinette suddenly stopped in her tracks and gasped, "No! No, Adrien it's not your fault! You're wonderful. So wonderful and without even trying. This is all me. I just - I need to tell you something important and I keep failing to gather up the courage to tell you." She covered her hands over her face once again, lightly slapping herself and groaning.

Adrien stood up, slowly coming near to her as if she was a deer that would run away if startled. He placed his hands on Marinette's shoulders in familiar, comforting touch. Marinette brought her hands down from her face, looking into Adrien's kind eyes and reassuring smile. "Whatever it is I promise you can tell me."

Marinette brought her hands to her chest and let out a deep breath. She could feel Tikki nudging her with encouragement form inside her purse. _'Here goes everything.'_

She looked right into Adrien's eyes, " _J'taime,_ Adrien _."_

Adrien's eyes widened, his grip on her shoulders tensing, "What?"

Marinette felt her nerves flare up again but she was determined to go through with her confession. She needed him to know. She needed to be the one to tell him. "I like you Adrien, I've liked you since the first day we met."

Adrien's hands dropped from her shoulders, his mouth gaping open in surprise. Marinette held her breath, ' _Please don't be creeped out. Please don't hate me.'_

"I thought you hated me."

This time, Marinette felt her own mouth fall open. "Wait ... What?!"

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, his hand running up to grasp the ends of his hair. "Maybe not _hated_ me but certainly that you liked me much less than our classmates. You would never speak to me."

Marinette let out an exasperated shriek, "That's because I get so nervous around you that when I do, I can barely _say anything or I trip over you!"_

"Wow." Adrien was rendered speechless at her confession. His eyes seemed to look right through her, his mind reeling at this new information. Marinette let out a little distressed whine at his stiffness.

"Oh Adrien, I've ruined everything haven't I?"

"I, um, no. _No_ , Marinette. It's okay!"

Marinette began to bite her nails, "No, no, you're really freaked out right now. Ugh, why did I think confessing was a good idea? I just wanted you to hear how I felt from my mouth and not from Chloe's.

"Marinette, I get it. It's a lot to take in but -"

" - I mean yes the campfire atmosphere felt like a good place to confess but why did I think that alone would be enough?! I'm so stupid! -"

" _Marinette_!" Adrien's hands gently grasped her face and Marinette gasped at the sudden motion. They stilled. Everything went quiet except for the fire's embers going up into the air. The atmosphere suddenly felt charged and their skins prickled with heat. Both certain it wasn't just from the campfire burning behind them.

Adrien had just wanted to calm her down. He never liked to see her nervous around him. She was his friend, and he always wanted to help her if he could. Even if she had just revealed she had _liked_ him for as long as they'd been friends. Despite her confession catching him off guard, he wanted to maintain their friendship. He didn't want to send her mixed signals when he was in love with someone else.

But, friends didn't behave like this did they. Friends didn't hold their friends' faces close to their own for a questionable amount of time to calm them down. Friends didn't start leaning their faces even more towards each other. Lips nearing ever so close.

For the first time, Adrien Agreste realized how much he wanted to kiss Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Marinette held her breath. This was everything she had ever dreamed about. Adrien pulling her closer into a passionate embrace as he admitted he had always liked her too. She closed her eyes and puckered her lips, finally ready to kiss the boy she loved.

Then Adrien dropped his hands, his fingers lightly running through her pigtails as they went back down to his sides. Their eyes opened and Marinette mourned the step back that Adrien took away from her.

Adrien dug his fingernails into the palm of his hands, sick to his stomach at what he had almost done. At how he had almost led her on. His _friend_. "I'm sorry, Marinette. I've only ever thought of you as a friend."

"Oh." Marinette swallowed the growing lump in her throat, the sting of rejection quickly pinching at her heart. Then she blinked her eyes rapidly a couple of times, reflecting on the moment they just shared. "Then why did you just do that?"

Adrien's eyes shifted all around her face, as if taking her in for the very first time. As if he his eyes had been out of focus and were straying to adjusting to seeing in clarity, "I'm not sure. I just wanted to calm you down."

Marinette crossed her arms defensively, "You couldn't think of another way to do that?"

Adrien twiddled his thumbs nervously, "Not in the moment, no. I'm _so_ sorry, Marinette. I didn't mean to lead you on."

Marinette sighed, looking down at the ground, not sure what to say or do next. She wasn't angry at him but she wasn't happy either. She was confused.

Looking back into Adrien's eyes, so sincerely apologetic, she suddenly knew. Marinette sighed, "You don't have to be sorry, Adrien. We were both caught up in the moment. I'm glad you stopped before you did something you were going to regret. You've always been so genuine and kind. It's the reason I like you so much in the first place. But I don't want a kiss from you if it's juIst going to be an act of kindness. We're okay."

Marinette quietly sat back on the log and stared into the fire. Adrien followed her and sat down beside her, his gaze not leaving her face.

"I just really needed to tell you. Just in case you liked me too." Marinette looked at him and Adrien could tell every word had been honest and true, straight from her heart.

Adrien turned his eyes away from hers and back to the fire so that she couldn't see his burning red cheeks.

 _He_ was in Marinette's heart. His own heart shouldn't feel like it was bursting straight out of his chest. Especially when he had just friendzoned her.

Or maybe that was just Plagg snickering inside his shirt, telling him _I told you so_ about his _little girlfriend_ at school.

He glanced over once again just as Marinette looked to him. She shot him an awkward smile, soft around the edges that had once been rigid. He felt his own face brighten, the sides of his mouth quirking into a small smile of his own.

No, Marinette seemed to have a special affect on his heart. Distinct from what _just a friend_ would. Just like his lady did.

Adrien suddenly felt flustered. _'Oh God, I'm in a triangle.'_

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 **So, tell me what you think. :p**

 **Bookworm3 3**


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